From Publishers Weekly
Kenderian, an Iraqi-American, traces his strange odyssey from American schoolboy to Iraqi soldier and U.S. prisoner of war in this unique and informative autobiography. Kenderian was a permanent U.S. resident when he traveled to Iraq in 1980 to visit his estranged father. While there, Saddam invaded Iran and closed the country's border, stranding Kenderian, who was eventually drafted into the Iraqi navy for three and a half years. After the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam invaded Kuwait in August 1990, recalling Kenderian to active duty before he could escape. When the landing craft he was on hit a mine in the Persian Gulf—ironically placed by his own unit—the survivors were picked up by an American frigate and the relieved Kenderian became a POW. Because of his flawless English, Kenderian was a favorite of his captors, worked informally as an interpreter and even became romantically involved with a female army reservist. After much diplomatic maneuvering, the self-described "man without a country" was granted "humanitarian parole" and returned to the U.S. Kenderian's decade-long ordeal is a bittersweet story, but after acknowledging his "really bad timing," he eschews the negative for an inspirational account of perseverance and survival. (June)
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Review
"Only a man of great courage and resilience could have survived such a harrowing ordeal. And only a storyteller of extraordinary talent could have related it with such humanity, grace, and humor." -- Andrew Carroll, New York Times bestselling editor of War Letters and Behind the Lines
"Shant Kenderian takes us on an emotional journey that is both tormented and complex and, in the process, establishes an important context through which we can view today's Iraqi conflicts. What a ride!" -- Liz Balmaseda, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
"If it were only a war story it would be riveting. If it were only a love story it would be profoundly moving. And if it were only the story of a man never losing hope in the face of bureaucracy, bigotry and bad luck -- it would be an inspiration. But, it is all of those things and a good deal more. Shant Kenderian has returned to us from hell with a message of hope." -- Scott Z. Burns, producer of An Inconvenient Truth
"We put Shant on our show because his story was human scale, in a way a lot of the daily news from Iraq can't be."
--Ira Glass, host and producer of public radio's and Showtime's "This American Life"
"Kenderian writes matter-of-factly, with the stoicism of someone who has endured the seemingly unendurable. But his story is mind-blowing enough to keep you turning the pages." -- Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
Shant Kenderian immigrated to the United States at the age of fifteen with his mother. He has earned several degrees, including a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He currently works for The Aerospace Corporation in the Los Angeles area, where he lives with his wife and three children.
